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8.1 What Is Culture?
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Define culture and describe its characteristics.
Culture has important implications for international business. Understanding and responding to cultural differences can make or break business
deals, keep employees happy, and be the difference between satisfied or frustrated customers.
What Is Culture?
Culture is a society's unique set of values and norms that govern how people live and interact. Culture manifests itself at many levels—the nation-
state level, the professional level (norms for educators, lawyers, businesspeople, students), the functional level (how norms differ between
professors and administrators, or between managers and employees), and even at the level of gender, where different norms exist for men and
women. Any type of unifying attribute can form the basis for a level of culture. Typically, culture's influence works on a deep level, and as a result
we often take it for granted, so its deepest effects on us are usually difficult for us to identify and address from within our own culture.
Think of culture as an iceberg. Just as an iceberg has a part you see and a part hidden under the water, culture has aspects that are readily
observable and others that are difficult to discern. For instance, in Thailand you might easily observe people politely putting their hands together in
front of them and bowing to each other as a greeting (called a wai)—even Ronald McDonald does it, as shown in Figure 8.1. But less well
understood is that the greeting reflects the strictly hierarchical society of the Thai, which corresponds to the shape of the human body. The crown
of the head is the highest and most important point on the body—never touch a Thai adult's or even a child's head; it is gravely offensive—while
the soles of the feet are the lowest point. In the act of greeting, the height of your hands is indicative of the degree of respect you are showing the
other person. Hands in front of the upper chest and neck with a slight bow is an informal greeting reserved for friends. However, a more formal
greeting requires a deeper bow and hands in front of the face. When you are greeting a Buddhist monk or royalty, your hands must be in front of
your forehead while you make a deep bow or kneel on the ground with your head bowed.
Figure 8.1GreetingsThailand's main form of
greeting is putting the hands together and
bowing. Even the Ronald McDonald statues in
Thailand perform this common greeting.
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The principle of the head being the most important part of the body and the feet the least important leads us to understand why it is considered
improper to step on co.
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Print this page
8.1 What Is Culture?
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Define culture and describe its characteristics.
Culture has important implications for international business.
Understanding and responding to cultural differences can make
or break business
deals, keep employees happy, and be the difference between
satisfied or frustrated customers.
What Is Culture?
Culture is a society's unique set of values and norms that govern
how people live and interact. Culture manifests itself at many
levels—the nation-
state level, the professional level (norms for educators, lawyers,
businesspeople, students), the functional level (how norms
differ between
professors and administrators, or between managers and
employees), and even at the level of gender, where different
norms exist for men and
women. Any type of unifying attribute can form the basis for a
level of culture. Typically, culture's influence works on a deep
level, and as a result
2. we often take it for granted, so its deepest effects on us are
usually difficult for us to identify and address from within our
own culture.
Think of culture as an iceberg. Just as an iceberg has a part you
see and a part hidden under the water, culture has aspects that
are readily
observable and others that are difficult to discern. For instance,
in Thailand you might easily observe people politely putting
their hands together in
front of them and bowing to each other as a greeting (called a
wai)—even Ronald McDonald does it, as shown in Figure 8.1.
But less well
understood is that the greeting reflects the strictly hierarchical
society of the Thai, which corresponds to the shape of the
human body. The crown
of the head is the highest and most important point on the
body—never touch a Thai adult's or even a child's head; it is
gravely offensive—while
the soles of the feet are the lowest point. In the act of greeting,
the height of your hands is indicative of the degree of respect
you are showing the
other person. Hands in front of the upper chest and neck with a
slight bow is an informal greeting reserved for friends.
However, a more formal
greeting requires a deeper bow and hands in front of the face.
When you are greeting a Buddhist monk or royalty, your hands
must be in front of
your forehead while you make a deep bow or kneel on the
ground with your head bowed.
Figure 8.1GreetingsThailand's main form of
greeting is putting the hands together and
bowing. Even the Ronald McDonald statues in
Thailand perform this common greeting.
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The principle of the head being the most important part of the
body and the feet the least important leads us to understand why
it is considered
improper to step on coins stamped with the king's image (the
king would be under your feet) and why it is important not to
have your head be
higher than the king's. A Bangkok taxi driver, having been cut
off by another driver, was observed to weave through traffic and
pull up next to the
offending driver. He then took his foot off the gas pedal and
stuck it out the window with the bottom toward the other driver,
giving him an
ultimate insult.
Most of a culture's influence is hidden beneath the surface, like
an iceberg (see Figure 8.2). When international business leaders
ignore the
underlying parts of an unfamiliar culture, they are more likely
to crash and sink in its intricacies. Therefore, while a first step
in examining any
culture is to observe the visible aspects of language,
institutions, and actions, an important second step is to look for
the underlying norms, values,
beliefs. These core elements of culture inform a guiding set of
principles that establish what is socially acceptable and what
isn't.
Figure 8.2Culture is like an icebergSource: Adapted from
Brigham Young University–Idaho,
4. http://www.byui.edu/pathway/speaking-partners/volunteer-
guidelines
Values.
A society's values are its backbone, the shared assumptions that
identify what its members believe is good, right, and desirable.
Consider the
hypothetical example of a U.S. manager explaining to a
Cambodian colleague that it is illegal under U.S. law, as well as
distasteful, to offer bribes
to government officials in exchange for their attention and
quick action. The Cambodian colleague replies that many
government workers are not
paid enough to survive and must rely on bribes to help them
make ends meet. “Your view is fair,” says the Cambodian, “but
we believe in taking
care of those in need of help.”
Values determine, in part, the culture's attitudes toward core
social ideals like honesty, freedom, and equality, and toward
various kinds of
interactions: personal interactions like friendship and love,
societal interactions like religion and education, political
interactions like government
and sufferage, and family interactions like child-rearing and the
role of marriage. Values shape and are shaped by the
organizations in which they
are embedded. For instance, societies that value freedom are
more likely to organize around democracies, individual choice,
and strongly protected
property rights. Expansive personal freedoms in turn encourage
people to internalize freedom as a value. In some cases,
however, societal values
are not reflected in governmental systems, and a society may
revolt to bring the system in line with people's values.
The Arab Spring uprising (see Figure 8.3) that took place
primarily in 2011–2012 was a historic event in which a critical
5. mass of people in
Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen demonstrated against their
governments in an attempt to change their political and
economic systems. In some
of these countries, change came about and new values were
recognized by political leaders. In others, the protests were less
effective at instituting
change. Nonetheless, this movement was not just a one-time
event for the Arab world. Rather, it represents a long-term
revolutionary process for
liberation that, while not always visible, is still alive and well
in the hearts of many people, like the underwater part of an
iceberg.
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Figure 8.3Antigovernment crowds throng Cairo's Tahrir
SquareDuring the Arab Spring, tens of thousands of protestors
rallied in central Cairo for a new government.
Norms.
If values are the backbone of a culture, norms are the social
rules that govern people's interactions within that culture.
Norms can be either
customs or social mores. In general, customs are socially
6. approved standards of behavior that are not morally significant,
such as how to greet one
another (see Figure 8.4), how to dress, what to eat, and how to
behave toward neighbors. People follow customs out of
tradition or convenience.
Breaking a custom does not usually have serious consequences,
but it can sour a relationship and make it more difficult to
develop trust.
Figure 8.4Different greeting customsTennis greats Serena and
Venus Williams shake hands with
opponents after a tennis match, as is the Western custom (left).
German Chancellor Angela
Merkel greeting a dancer in New Zealand. The traditional
custom for greeting in the Maori
culture, called hongi, consists of pressing noses together with
eyes closed (right).
An example of a cultural custom relevant to business is people's
attitude toward time. In countries like the United States, Japan,
Germany, and
Britain, businesspeople are very conscious of schedules. They
can be quickly irritated when time is “wasted” because a partner
or client is late for
a meeting or the meeting runs long. People from these cultures
often talk about time as though it were money—a resource that
can be saved,
invested, lost, or wasted. Many Arabic, Latin, and African
cultures view time as more elastic; keeping to a schedule is
much less important than
making sure the proper interactions have taken place. This view
of time may have evolved by necessity or have historical roots.
For instance,
flexibility toward time in Arab cultures has been influenced by
the region's nomadic, Bedouin heritage; saying you would arrive
somewhere
7. tomorrow might end up meaning next week. This led to an
attitude of accepting people as they come and not focusing too
much on when they
come. In fact, Saudis tend to see time as something to share
rather than something to steal.
Most customs are rooted in some historical or deeper value in
the society. For example, during the initial greeting between
businesspeople in
Japan, the Japanese executive will hold his or her business card
in both hands by the corners and bow while presenting the card
to the foreigner.
This custom carries deep cultural symbolism: The card
symbolizes the manager's rank, which is important in a
hierarchical society like Japan's.
The bow is a sign of respect; the more deeply you bow, the
more respect you show. Thus, foreigners doing business in
Japan should realize that if
someone is older or of higher status, they should bow low to
that individual, always receive the business card with two
hands, offer their own card
with two hands, and examine the card of the person with the
higher status right after receiving it. In fact, if you sit down for
the meeting after the
introduction, you should leave the other person's card on the
table in front of you to continue to show respect for that person;
in Japan's culture, the
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card symbolizes to some extent the person who gave it to you—
putting it in your back pocket and sitting on it is not a good
idea.
Social mores are strict norms that control moral and ethical
behavior in a culture. They form the basis for what people
believe is right and wrong,
and thus, unlike customs, are deeply, morally significant;
violating them could result in ruined business deals or worse.
Social mores include
feelings about such things as murder, theft, adultery, incest, and
cannibalism. In many societies they are even codified into law.
However, social
mores differ widely from culture to culture. For example, U.S.
adults generally accept the consumption of alcohol, whereas in
many parts of India
it is viewed as a violation of important social mores and is
punishable by law.
Sometimes cultures will enact similar laws based on different
cultural mores. For example, based on Islamic codes of morality
and fidelity, the
sexually conservative country of Saudi Arabia bans strip clubs
and online pornography. Iceland, culturally very different from
Saudi Arabia, is
more sexually liberal yet has also proposed banning strip clubs
and online pornography—but this proposal is not based on
religion. Most
Icelanders believe pornography and strip clubs have serious
negative effects on young people, objectify women, and lead to
an increase in violent
crimes.
Determinants of Culture
9. The values and norms of a culture do not just happen. Political
and economic conditions contribute to them, as do the language,
religion, history,
and education of a society. Of course, the chain of causation
runs both ways: norms and values also influence language,
religion, education, and
politics. In a sense, all these factors evolve together, but
language, religion, and education are easy to recognize, and
their effects are easier to
observe than those of other factors. Let's take a look at each.
Language.
One observable difference between countries and cultures is
language, both spoken and unspoken. Research shows that we
are more likely to see a
certain image when we are given verbal cues, even if the image
does not exist. In other words, language helps us define and
comprehend our
reality. For instance, the language of Sanskrit, which traces its
origin to India and Iran, has 96 words for love; ancient Persian
has 80, Greek has 3,
and English only 1. This makes it difficult for many English
speakers to express and define how we love one another. Do you
love me like a
friend, like a brother, like an admirer, or like a lover? Just as in
personal relationships, business relationships may be influenced
by this limitation
on expressions of different types of love.
Because language shapes the way people see the world, it also
helps to define culture, so countries with more than one
language often have more
than one culture. For example, Canada has two official
languages, English and French. The French-speaking part of
Canada considers itself
unique, with a distinct culture. Consultants working with
General Mills found that people are very familiar with the
10. company in the English-
speaking part of Canada, but it is almost unknown in the
French-speaking part. French-speaking Canadians feel a
stronger cultural connection to
their distant French relations than they do to their English-
speaking neighbors. As a result, they are more interested in
French than U.S. brands.
At least 7,102 living languages are spoken throughout the
world, as shown in Figure 8.5. A living language is one spoken
by a native population
somewhere, whereas a dead language (such as Latin) is no
longer native anywhere. Asia, despite being dominated by large
countries like Russia,
India, and China, has the most spoken languages of any
continental area, whereas Europe, despite comprising many
nation-states, is at the bottom
of the pack with just 286.
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Figure 8.5Languages and their locationsAt least 7,102
living languages are spoken throughout the world.
Sources: Rick Noack and Lazaro Gamio, “The
World's Languages in 7 Maps and Charts,”
Washington Post, April 23, 2015,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/04/
23/the-
worlds-languages-in-7-maps-and-charts/?
utm_term=.173438a9d96e; M. P. Lewis, G. F.
Simons, and C. D. Fennig, Ethnologue: Languages of
the World, 18th ed. (Dallas: SIL International, 2015).
Online version.
Chinese is the native language of the largest number of people,
followed by Hindi and then English (also spoken in India). The
statistics on
languages are interesting because they show that two-thirds of
the world's population share just 12 native languages—of the
7,102 available. In
fact, a mere 3 percent of the world's people account for 96
percent of all languages spoken. As many as 2,000 languages
have fewer than 1,000
native speakers alive today. According to some estimates, half
the world's spoken languages could disappear by the end of the
century.
Despite being only third in the number of native speakers,
thanks to language study courses the most widely spoken
language is English, followed
by Arabic, French, Chinese, and then Spanish. English is spoken
in 101 countries. Next in line is Arabic, spoken in 60 countries,
then French in
51, Chinese in 33, and Spanish in 31. English, French, and
Spanish are so widely dispersed because of the imperialistic
12. histories of the nations
where they originate.
English is the unofficial language of business and of the
Internet. Overall, more people learn English than French,
Spanish, Italian, Japanese,
German, and Chinese combined. That said, some languages have
only recently gained attention. The number of U.S. colleges
teaching Mandarin
Chinese has risen by 110 percent over the past 20 years. During
that same time, the number of college courses offering Russian
decreased by 30
percent. These trends reflect the shifting U.S. interest in
countries that speak these languages. In fact, studying certain
languages can increase
graduates' earning potential. For instance, learning German can
mean earning an extra $128,000 over the course of a career
(enough to buy a
German car or two). Studying Chinese is also becoming a
lucrative proposition. In addition to increasing earning
potential, speaking more than
one language has been shown to lead to increased creativity,
negotiation skills, and problem-solving ability.
Religion.
A religion is a system of shared beliefs and rituals expressing
the way adherents interpret their place in the universe. Ethical
systems are sets of
moral principles or values that guide and shape behavior,
ensuring people can interact and live together effectively.
Most—but not all—of the
world's ethical systems are a product of religions, making the
relationship between religion, ethics, and society complex.
Thousands of religions
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are practiced worldwide today (see Figures 8.6 and 8.7), but
four in particular stand out for their influence on society and
global economic
systems. Christianity is currently the world's largest religion,
with roughly 2.2 billion adherents. The vast majority of
Christians live in Europe and
the Americas, although their numbers in Africa are growing
rapidly. Christianity grew out of Judaism and is similarly
monotheistic (declaring
belief in one God, whose son is Christ). Max Weber, a famous
sociologist, claimed that Christianity—in particular Protestant
Christianity—led to a
culture of rugged individualism and self-sufficiency in the
United States, often called the Protestant work ethic. In
general, Christian teaching
holds that it's fine to make money from business, but the
purpose of making money should not be to buy material
possessions; rather, money is for
bettering the lives of those around you.
Figure 8.6Sizes of major religious groupsSource: “The
14. Global Religious Landscape,” Pew Research Center,
Religion & Public Life, December 18, 2012.
http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-
religious-landscape-exec/.
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Figure 8.7Majority religion by countrySource: “The Global
Religious Landscape,” Pew Research Center, Religion & Public
Life, December 18,
2012. http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-
landscape-exec/.
Islam is the second-largest global religion, with 1.6 billion
adherents. It is monotheistic and has connections to both
Judaism and Christianity
(viewing Jesus Christ as one of God's prophets). The Qur'an, the
Islamic book of scripture, establishes some economic principles,
many of which
encourage free enterprise. The Prophet Muhammad was once a
trader, and the Qur'an speaks approvingly of free trade and the
protection of the
right to private property. As in Christianity, property and all
other material goods are believed to originate from God (Allah).
As a result,
15. profiting from property is acceptable, but money should be used
in a righteous, socially beneficial, prudent manner. One
economic principle of
Islam that differs from Christianity is its prohibition on paying
or receiving interest. When you borrow money from an Islamic
bank, it will
therefore not charge you interest, but under the terms of a
contract called a mudarabah, it will ask for a percentage of the
profits you earn from the
loan. Likewise, when you deposit money you will get a share of
the profits the bank makes from using your money for
investments. Islam
currently represents the fastest-growing major religion, and by
2050, its adherents are expected to be as numerous as
Christians.
The third-largest worldwide religion is Hinduism, with just over
1 billion adherents. Major traditions within Hinduism include
worship of the gods
Vishnu and Shiva. Hinduism is the most geographically
concentrated of the major religious groups, with more than 99
percent of adherents in the
Asia-Pacific region (94 percent live in India, 2 percent in
Nepal, 1 percent in Bangladesh). Hindus believe that a moral
existence in society
requires the acceptance of certain responsibilities, called
dharma. Hindus also believe in karma, the spiritual progression
of each person's soul. By
following dharma to perfect the soul, an individual can
eventually achieve nirvana, a state of complete spiritual
perfection. From a business
perspective, dharma roughly translates into your moral
obligation to be productive and contribute to the greater good of
society. This ideal is
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similar to the Protestant work ethic, in which work almost
becomes an end in itself. At the same time, many Hindus will
argue that the pursuit of
material wealth can interfere with karma and stifle the path to
nirvana, further reinforcing the idea that work should be
undertaken for work's sake
alone—not for monetary benefit.
Finally, Buddhism claims nearly half a billion adherents, mostly
in Central and Southeast Asia. Buddhism was founded in the
sixth century B.C.E.
by Siddhartha Gautama, in what is now Nepal. Siddhartha was
not completely happy with Hinduism, and in his process to
achieve nirvana he
became the Buddha (which means “the awakened one”). Based
on the insight that spiritual liberation is attained by avoiding
extremes, some
people claim that Buddhism represents the middle way between
the competing models of capitalism and socialism. It supports
the conventional
forces of a free market and competition so long as they don't
destroy either nature or human society, and it promotes
17. interconnectedness among all
living things.
Education.
Education plays a key role in shaping a society's culture. It
helps children learn the language of a society and the
conceptual and mathematical
skills needed to function and progress within it. It helps instill
cultural norms and values in individuals, maintaining and
sustaining a society's
culture. Education also helps individuals think critically about
their own cultural biases, enabling them to work to change the
prevailing culture for
the better. For example, cultural research has shown that many
people see women as undervalued in their respective cultures,
and the majority who
have received formal education say they do not feel this is right
and that it should change.
From an international business perspective, education can shape
a country's ability to compete. Universities and colleges have
boomed in the past
decade as the world has moved to a knowledge-based economy.
For example, in the past 20 years the number of universities in
China has
increased 600 percent and that in India, 1,600 percent. In 2014,
an estimated 8 million vacant job positions were available in
Europe and the
United States, and at the same time, 8 million people were
unemployed in Europe alone. This indicates that the current
educational infrastructure
in some countries does not prepare people to bridge the skills
gap. The United States is consistently ranked near the top
globally for the quality
of its universities, for example, but students still often struggle
to match their educations to the job market. Many feel the
squeeze of increasing
